Matthew Vaughn Moves Product

Matthew Vaughn, writer, producer, director, also is, if nothing else, a master of product placement. But his approach is somewhat different than in ordinarily the case, and it is almost as though he works as hard at getting this done as does crafting his prolix plots.

Putting commercial products in films is nothing new. The practice goes back to the Lumière brothers, who featured a consumer soap in their early films.

But whether it is the Mustang in Bullitt, Reese’s Pieces in E.T. or damn near everything in Barbie, it is typically the case that the product exists  in the film for purposes of marketing.

Vaughn has often deployed this straight-up approach.

In a scene in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) there is an exchange between Colin Firth (good guy) and Samuel L. Jackson (bad guy), that is something of a riff on the Big Mac scene in Pulp Fiction (“a Royale with cheese”).

The two are seated at dinner. The server pulls back the lid of a domed silver serving dish and there is an assortment of food from McDonald’s, the red and yellow packaging popping from the screen.

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Harry Hart (Firth): I’ll have the Big Mac, please.

Valentine (Jackson): Great choice. But nothing beats two cheeseburgers with secret sauce. Goes great with this ’45 Lafitte.

Harry Hart : A classic pairing. And may I suggest Twinkies and a 1937 Chateau d’Yquem for pudding?

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In Vaughn’s follow up to Kingsman: The Secret Service, 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle product placement went to a whole new level.

Old Forester, the Kentucky bourbon brand that has been on the market longer than any other corn, rye and malted barley-based alcohol (it goes back to 1870, and during Prohibition, it was still available because Brown-Forman, the company that produces it, got a license to sell it for medicinal purposes, so it didn’t miss a cue) created a bourbon specifically for the movie: Statesman.

This isn’t like Morely cigarettes in The X-Files, a prop.

Realize that this is something that didn’t exist, was created for the movie, and continues to exist. Stores don’t sell Statesman with a sticker that says something like “As Seen In ‘Kingsman.’” It exists because of the movie.

You can find Statesman, a 95-proof bourbon, on the shelves of liquor stores across the country. Buffalo Trace. . .Marker’s Mark. . .Knob Creek. . . Statesman.

When Statesman first appeared, Vaughn said, “When choosing partners for the Kingsman brand, I look for excellence, integrity and taste. Old Forester is my first partner who takes the taste requirement to the next level.”

Kingsman: The Golden Circle also led to another partnership for Vaughn, this time with the British men’s style purveyor Mr Porter. Vaughn and the brand had collaborated after The Secret Service, with a clothing line, “impeccably high-end clothing for the modern gentleman,” according to Mr Porter.

But just prior to the opening of The Golden Circle, The Kingsman Shop opened at 4 St James’s Street, London.

Mr Porter managing director Toby Bateman said, “We are thrilled to be opening our first ever transactional shop with Kingsman, to celebrate our ongoing partnership and to mark the September release of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.”

Presumably they drink Pimm’s at The Kingsman Shop.

Which brings us back to bourbon.

For Vaughn’s latest, Argylle, the folks at Old Forester created a specific cocktail, a variation of the Whiskey Sour, but named as a tribute to the feline character in the movie “Whisker Sour.”

It consists of Statesman bourbon (of course), Cointreau, lemonade, club soda, and a dash of Angostura bitters.

In something of a twist on product placement, the Whisker Sour, as well as other Old Forester-based beverages, will be on sale during screenings of Argylle in theaters that have bars.

What’s more, in Argylle, characters quaff the drink out of a crystal rocks glass from Vista Alegre, a Portuguese crystal maker.

Those glasses are now available in the Old Forester Distillery in Louisville as well as in boutiques around the country.

Said Nuno Barra of Vista Alegre, “Once again, this collaboration with Matthew Vaughn is an honour and recognition of Vista Alegre’s quality.”

Somehow you get the feeling that Vaughn is as much of a dealmaker as a filmmaker.